BYRD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

• BYRD (noun)
  The noun BYRD has 2 senses:

1. English organist and composer of church music; master of 16th century polyphony; was granted a monopoly in music printing with Thomas Tallis (1543-1623)

2. explorer and United States naval officer; led expeditions to explore Antarctica (1888-1957)

  Familiarity information: BYRD used as a noun is rare.

• BYRD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

English organist and composer of church music; master of 16th century polyphony; was granted a monopoly in music printing with Thomas Tallis (1543-1623)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Byrd; William Byrd

Instance hypernyms:

composer (someone who composes music as a profession)

organist (a person who plays an organ)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Explorer and United States naval officer; led expeditions to explore Antarctica (1888-1957)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Admiral Byrd; Byrd; Richard E. Byrd; Richard Evelyn Byrd

Instance hypernyms:

adventurer; explorer (someone who travels into little known regions (especially for some scientific purpose))

naval officer (an officer in the navy)

 Context examples 

The Marie Byrd Land mantle plume formed 50 to 110 million years ago, long before the West Antarctic ice sheet came into existence.

(Hot News from the Antarctic Underground, NASA)

Some 30 years ago, a scientist at the University of Colorado Denver suggested that heat from a mantle plume under Marie Byrd Land might explain regional volcanic activity and a topographic dome feature.

(Hot News from the Antarctic Underground, NASA)

A new NASA study adds evidence that a geothermal heat source called a mantle plume lies deep below Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land, explaining some of the melting that creates lakes and rivers under the ice sheet.

(Hot News from the Antarctic Underground, NASA)